A Rotorua councillor has called for ministerial intervention with fluoridation mandates. Photo / Laura Smith
A Rotorua councillor is trying his luck with the new health minister in a bid to halt directives to fluoridate water supplies.
Minister of Health Simeon Brown has confirmed the Government’s stance remains the same, in that fluoridation is a “safe, effective and affordable measure for improving oral health”.
Rotorua Lakes Council’s Infrastructure and Environment Committee meeting this week began with a notice of motion from councillor Conan O’Brien — unanimously supported by councillors. Robert Lee was absent.
O’Brien called for chief executive Andrew Moraes to write to Brown to direct the director general of health, Dr Diana Sarfati, to withdraw the directive to fluoridate drinking water until an independent public inquiry into the health and environmental impacts and risks was completed and its findings reported to Parliament.
Secondly, he asked that if the minister was unable to do so, to instead direct Sarfati not to penalise the council for non-compliance until an inquiry was completed and reported on.
This included legal action or prosecution.
The council is set to hear from Ministry of Health representatives on February 10 during a public workshop, and will make a decision on whether to turn on the fluoride taps on March 26.
The decision on whether public drinking water supplies should be fluoridated was removed from local government jurisdiction in 2021, with the goal of improving poor dental health.
Rotorua was among the 14 councils directed to fluoridate some or all water supplies by then-director general of health Sir Ashley Bloomfield.
The city has until March 28 to fluoridate its central and eastern water supplies or risk significant fines, and was granted an extension from April 30 last year.
Non-compliance carries a maximum penalty of $200,000 and up to $10,000 a day for continuing offences.
Elected members voted last June to receive funding for the fluoridation works. Without doing so it could have cost ratepayers $3 million.
Moraes said at the time it was an agreement to complete the physical works, not to activate them.
The mandate was the subject of several legal fights.
A Court of Appeal hearing is scheduled for June relating to whether the High Court was correct to find that the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act created a procedural duty on the director general to consider the right to refuse medical treatment under the Act when issuing each direction.
It will not affect the validity of directions to local authorities to fluoridate, a ministry spokesperson confirmed.
Local Democracy Reporting asked Brown about the notice of motion and if it would be considered, what his powers were and how many other councils had asked him for similar.
Brown confirmed the Government’s stance remained the same in that community water fluoridation was a safe, effective, and affordable measure for improving oral health.
Fluoridation directions were made by the director general of health, not the minister.
The director general considered the Bill of Rights Act and determined the directions were justified.
A Ministry of Health spokesperson said there had been more than 60 years of international and New Zealand research into water fluoridation and the World Health Organisation and other international and national health and scientific experts endorsed it as a safe and effective public health measure.
“The courts have also previously held water fluoridation is a justified limit under the [Bill of Rights] Act.”
It was aware the council had passed the notice of motion.
The ministry would consider prosecutions on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the Solicitor General’s prosecution guidelines.
In December, the Ministry of Health released the report Community Water Fluoridation: An evidence review, which reaffirmed its position on fluoridation being safe and the directives remained.
Laura Smith is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. She previously reported general news for the Otago Daily Times and Southland Express, and has been a journalist since 2019.
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.